He who commits high treason is disembowelled alive, and they tear out his heart and buffet his cheeks with it.  Impress on yourself notions of right and justice.  Never allow yourself to speak a word, and at the first cause of anxiety, run for it.  Such is the bravery which I counsel and which I practise.  In the way of temerity, imitate the birds; in the way of talking, imitate the fishes.  England has one admirable point in her favour, that her legislation is very mild.”

His admonition over, Ursus remained uneasy for some time.  Gwynplaine not at all.  The intrepidity of youth arises from want of experience.  However, it seemed that Gwynplaine had good reason for his easy mind, for the weeks flowed on peacefully, and no bad consequences seemed to have resulted from his observations about the queen.

Ursus, we know, lacked apathy, and, like a roebuck on the watch, kept a lookout in every direction.  One day, a short time after his sermon to Gwynplaine, as he was looking out from the window in the wall which commanded the field, he became suddenly pale.

“Gwynplaine?”

“What?”

“Look.”

“Where?”

“In the field.”

“Well.”

“Do you see that passer-by?”

“The man in black?”

“Yes.”

“Who has a kind of mace in his hand?”

“Yes.”

“Well?”

“Well, Gwynplaine, that man is a wapentake.”

“What is a wapentake?”

“He is the bailiff of the hundred.”

“What is the bailiff of the hundred?”

“He is the proepositus hundredi.”

“And what is the proepositus hundredi?”

“He is a terrible officer.”

“What has he got in his hand?”

“The iron weapon.”

“What is the iron weapon?”

“A thing made of iron.”

“What does he do with that?”

“First of all, he swears upon it.  It is for that reason that he is called the wapentake.”

“And then?”

“Then he touches you with it.”

“With what?”

“With the iron weapon.”

“The wapentake touches you with the iron weapon?”

“Yes.”

“What does that mean?”

“That means, follow me.”

“And must you follow?”

“Yes.”

“Whither?”

“How should I know?”

“But he tells you where he is going to take you?”

“No.”

“How is that?”

“He says nothing, and you say nothing.”

“But—­”

“He touches you with the iron weapon.  All is over then.  You must go.”

“But where?”

“After him.”

“But where?”

“Wherever he likes, Gwynplaine.”

“And if you resist?”

“You are hanged.”

Ursus looked out of the window again, and drawing a long breath, said,—­

“Thank God!  He has passed.  He was not coming here.”